


Fevered Visions

by Mdk103



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Daddy Qrow, F/M, Post-Volume 4 (RWBY), Pre-Volume 5 (RWBY), Qrow x Summer, Volume 4 (RWBY), alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-25 09:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12528348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mdk103/pseuds/Mdk103
Summary: Qrow Branwen, member of one of the best teams to graduate Beacon Academy, Team STRQ, was helpless as he was carried to Mistral on a stretcher by someone he knew. He realized that the poison was affecting his mind, as surely, he was seeing things? There in front of him, walking, was a small woman with black hair and red highlights wearing a white cloak...yet wielding a red scythe?





	1. Sickening Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Hi... I'm new here, and this is my first real fanfic.
> 
> Spoilers ahead, as I basically retell parts of episodes 8 through 12 of RWBY Vol. 4.
> 
> Tyrian's poison is causing problems to Qrow, and Team RNJR is seeing the side effects of it.

“I bring misfortune.”

“I guess you could call me a bad luck charm.”

 

Ruby was thinking over everything her uncle had said last night, as she slept.  Yesterday, she was in Oniyuri on the way to Mistral, and while traveling through the abandoned city, she ran into Tyrian, a scorpion faunus, who was there to take her.  He attacked her, but luckily, Uncle  Qrow was following her, and retaliated.  She was sure that Qrow had called Tyrian’s queen, Salem.  

Sadly, that bitch, Tyrian, had stung her uncle.  Qrow that night, told her about Ozpin’s mission.  Ozpin, the other headmasters, all worked together to keep the kingdoms safe from the hands of Salem.  He told Ruby the story of the Maidens, and of the relics.  He also spoke of the brothers, two gods watching over the world.  He had ended up telling her and the others about his semblance, and it made Ruby shiver to think that, that was the reason for not hanging around with her all the time.

She had been traveling for awhile with Jaune, Nora, and Ren for a few months now, they were traveling to Haven Academy, in Mistral all the way from Patch, an island off of Vale’s coast, the journey was difficult, as not many people traveled by foot anymore, however, with what happened at the Vytal festival, it became a lot harder to travel between kingdoms.  Luckily, last she heard, all four kingdoms still had their borders open.  Her uncle had told her that the enemy’s trail led all the way to Haven, so that’s where Ruby decided to go.

Jaune wasn’t having a good night either, he was still very pissed at Qrow for what happened to Pyrrha, and now, Ruby, his best friend was being tracked, likely to be killed.  He couldn’t stand it at all.  Why Ruby of all people?!  And why was that faunus interested in him?  However, all Jaune could think of, was a nightmare, eerily similar to a scene from Beacon.  

* * *

 Jaune and Ruby had just exited an abandoned tower, located in a ruined city, with a mountain as the backdrop.

“What… was all that?” he asked to Ruby, who looked down.

“Qrow.” she whispered, “There’s no time.”  She turned to Jaune, her silver eyes starting to glow, “Go.  Get to safety, and call for help.”

Jaune looked a Ruby. “Huh?  What are you going to do?” he paused as Ruby turned to face the tower, Cinder was on top, staring at them. “No, Ruby, you can’t… I won’t let-”. 

 Jaune was stopped as Ruby kissed him on the lips, they embraced it for a few seconds, before Ruby ended the kiss. “I’m sorry, Jaune.”  She smiled, “I’ll be alright.” she finished as she turned and scattered into rose petals, her trail leading to the tower.  

Jaune started to cry, “No! Ruby!” crying into his scroll, he found Yang’s number and called it. “Yang!” he shouted into his scroll, “Please, you need to stop her!”

“What?” came a voice over the scroll, it wasn’t Yang’s voice though, it was Weiss’s.

“Ruby…” he yelled, “She went up the tower to fight Cinder… you need to help her!  Ruby, can’t fight her alone, she doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Jaune, what are you talking about, where are you?” asked Weiss.

“Don’t worry about me!  Please… go save Ruby.” He stopped talking.

“Where is she?!” asked Weiss, annoyed.

“She’s at the main tower! Please, you have to do something! For Ruby!” he shouted into the scroll as he chucked it, as he started to scream.

“Jaune?  Jaune!?” shouted Weiss over the scroll, as Jaune started to cry uncontrollably.

“No… I’ve already lost Pyrrha to them…. I can’t lose Ruby too…!” He shouted.

* * *

 

His eyes opened wide, as Jaune awoke from his nightmare, shivering, he looked around, to see the rest of his team sound asleep, and he saw Qrow asleep up against a tree.  He sighed in relief, as he looked across to Ruby, whose face shone like gold in the flickering flames of their fire, which was slowly going still.  ‘What was that all about?’ he thought. Sure, he cared for Ruby, but enough for that nightmare?

The morning slowly dawned on the group.  Qrow awoke in a fit of coughs, as he looked down to see his cut had started to ooze purple.  Ruby ran to his side as he spoke. “Well… that’s unfortunate” Qrow muttered as he fell unconscious. 

“Uncle Qrow!” shouted Ruby, she was worried for her uncle’s health.

Ren looked at Qrow’s cut. “We need to get to Mistral and fast…. Qrow’s cut is bad… he was injected with that scorpion faunus’ venom.”

“How bad are we talking about?” said Ruby, tears falling from her eyes.

“We need to rush to Mistral… Ruby, can you run to Oniyuri?  Your semblance will let you search more land quickly, go get a stretcher and fast!” Ren shouted, a look of worry in his eyes.

“Right… do you think that town will have medicine?” Ruby asked, with an afraid tone of her voice.

“Oniyuri was never finished Ruby, so I doubt it, it was under construction, which is why I think there might be a stretcher.” Ren stated, as Ruby nodded, acknowledging what Ren had said.

“Right…” Ruby rushed off, turning into a pile of petals as she ran.

“Jaune, go clean out the fire.” Ren ordered to the blonde man standing at the fire pit.

“Right.” said Jaune as he started to kill the fire.

“Ren… what’s gonna happen?” asked Nora, looking at her partner.

“Nora… I don’t know… without the map, we don’t know how far it is to Mistral….” Ren paused as he started to remember his past. “However…. It isn’t that far hopefully…Oniyuri was a one to two day trip from...” Ren’s words slowed as he remembered that fateful night, when the Nuckelavee Grimm slaughtered his parents in Kuroyuri, Nora could feel Ren’s feelings, as she was there in Kuroyuri that night as well.

“Ren, are you okay?” asked Nora, clearing Ren’s mind.

“Nora, I’m fine!” shouted Ren.

“Ren, you alright?!” shouted Jaune from the distance.

“Yeah Jaune.” said Ren as he nodded his head.

It wasn’t long until Ruby returned with the stretcher when it… _started_.

As Ruby and Ren moved Qrow onto the stretcher, Qrow stirred and opened his eyes for a few moments. “Summer? Is that you?”  He asked in Ruby’s direction, unaware he was hallucinating.  
  
“No, It’s me, Ruby, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby answered.

“Ruby….” Ren stopped to think about what he was taught in class. “He might be hallucinating.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ruby, concerned for her uncle's health.

“Well….-” Ren stopped as Jaune walked up to the group.

“Great...so you’re going to be on my team, Taiyang.” said Qrow in a sarcastic tone as Jaune walked past him, scaring Jaune for a second.

“He’s seeing things that aren’t there… or rather, as it seems, because of the poison, he sees Ruby as this Summer person, and Jaune as this Taiyang person.” finished Ren.

“Summer’s my mother… and Taiyang is my father…” Ruby paused for a second, to think it over, “Both of them were on the same team as my Uncle Qrow. Uncle Qrow, when he isn’t giving me the cold shoulder like my father does, says I remind him a lot of my mother…” Ruby took a breath, smiling after her last statement. “And Taiyang is a blonde, like Jaune… and can be a goof ball as well.”

“Hey!” yelled Jaune,as Ren and Nora chuckled a little bit at his expense.

“We need to get going, if he isn’t treated soon, his condition will worsen.” Ren said.

“Right, Jaune, help me with my uncle.” Ruby added.

“Me?” asked Jaune. “Why me?”

"He sees you as my father, might be better if he thinks he sees someone he knows.” Ruby added.

“Ruby’s right… Ren, you lead, I’ll stand at the back.” said Nora.

“We need to get going.” added Ren, as he started to walk towards Mistral.  Ruby and Jaune, then picked Qrow up and they headed off towards Mistral.


	2. Beacon of Destiny Part 1

Qrow walked alone in the dark. It was still the night he had told Team RNJR the story about the maidens and the brothers. He stopped walking as he spotted a small campsite, abandoned.

"Raven's tribe", he said to himself as he sat down on a log. He put down his scroll and turned on the recording button.

"Hey Kiddo", he paused to clear his head before continuing, "Ruby. Look… I don't think I'll make it out of this alive Ruby…. So I need to tell you some things…as I already told you… my semblance is bringing bad luck, something you can't really do over the scrolls." he paused. "Well…-" Qrow was stopped as he heard a grimm nearby. Qrow grabbed his scythe, he got up to start to move for the attack, but a woman blotted into existence in front of him attacked the grimm for him.

"What? You're making a deathbed confession?" asked the figure, looking at Qrow, removing her mask.

"Raven… What are you doing here?!" shouted Qrow, struggling to get back down on to the log. "I don't think I'll make it out alive….-"

"I'll watch over you until you reach Mistral then… you will pull through this brother" Raven spotted the scroll, "Who was this for anyway?"

"It's for Ruby" Qrow answered.

"Qrow, I know you, you're still the drunkard I first saw after Sum-" Raven was stopped by Qrow walking up to her, scythe in hand.

"Mention that on the scroll and I will personally burn down your tribe if I heal", he said, his voice stewed in rage.

"Brother, you're in no condition to make threats…" she paused and smirked at Qrow, "Besides, it was also your tribe at one point; look just tell Ruby in person… she needs to hear it in person from you."

"And what about you?" Qrow retorted.

"As I said, the tribe doesn't need me for a few days, we just had a good raid, so I'll watch over you, it's only maybe two days until you reach Mistral: goodbye Brother." said Raven as she walked away. Qrow looked at the scroll. "I guess you just saw that… that's Yang's mother, Raven, and I guess she figures I'll make it out alive." He picked it up and silently walked back to their campsite. "Well, Kiddo, when I recover, I'll tell you what I was gonna tell you in this video… if I don't make it and Raven has lied to me, bring this scroll to Taiyang he'll fill you in himself; goodnight Ruby", finished Qrow as he turned off the recording. "Well, at least if Raven's lying, I should try t and think about my past and you, Summer." Qrow added as he silently fell asleep.

Qrow awoke the next morning in a fit of coughs. Ruby ran to his side to see his cut had oozing an unnatural purple.

"Well, that's unfortunate" Qrow said as he fell unconscious, however he could still hear them in the back of his head. 'Stop yelling', thought Qrow as Ren shouted to Nora, 'Now…I should begin to remember…her.' Qrow started to think back to when he was first met Summer, and later, the other members of team STRQ. Qrow began to reminisce.

* * *

Ozpin had welcomed Qrow and Raven himself.   Both of them passed the entry exams with flying colors; however Qrow, unlike Raven, decided not to steal a katana from the tribe, so he was worried. He stood in the audience of Ozpin's speech next to a young pale woman with black hair and hints of red highlights. He noticed this girl had silver eyes, something he had never seen in the tribe.  When Ozpin finished his speech they headed out together.

"So… hi, I'm Summer", said the woman, turning to Qrow.

"I'm Qrow", Qrow replied.

"It's nice to meet you Qrow, so what's your weapon?" asked Summer kindly.

Qrow sighed, 'Of course, that's the question she asked' he thought, as he replied. "I don't have one."

Summer looked at him, "What?"

"I was raised outside of the kingdoms, I shared weapons with my family… Ozpin told me that I could use the armory to build one with him, through."

"That sounds amazing!" Summer bubbled excitedly as she pulled out her weapon, "This is Silver Rose."

"A sword, huh? That's what I was trained on", Qrow replied, trying to smile at the young woman.

"It's also a gun." said Summer pushing a button, causing the blade to split, falling away to reveal a rifle barrel . "It's a HIRB."

"HIRB?" asked Qrow.

"High Impact Rifle Blade."

"Interesting." Qrow said as they entered the armory.

Professor Ozpin was there waiting for Qrow, when he spotted Qrow; he spoke. "Good Morning Mr. Branwen."

"Good Morning Headmaster."

"Ah, good morning, Ms. Rose." Ozpin said, as he spotted Summer.

"Hi Professor Ozpin!" she happily replied.

"Mr. Branwen, you said you don't have a weapon?"

"No." Qrow, sharply.

"Well, Mr. Branwen, there are plenty of parts here." Ozpin smiled. "Any type of weapon in mind?"

"Well… I was trained on swords, however, I've liked the feeling of holding a scythe."

"A scythe!?" squeaked Summer.

"Yes, I had one… but it was damaged beyond repair."

"Very well, then, Mr. Branwen." said Ozpin, "I'll help you build a scythe."

"You mind if I watch?" asked Summer.

"Not at all." replied Qrow, as he was enjoying Summer's company.

Hours went by as Qrow worked on forging his weapon, with help from both Ozpin and Summer. At the end of the day, he was holding his new weapon. At some point, someone, likely Summer, mentioned that a pair of shotguns would be useful for combat. He was testing it out, swinging the weapon back and forth.

"Well?" asked Ozpin.

"Thank you ever so much Headmaster" Qrow added, smiling at his headmaster.

"You're welcome, Mr. Branwen, now run along to meet with the others", mentioned Ozpin, smiling at Qrow and Summer.

"You have a name for it?" asked Summer as she and Qrow left.

"Not yet, was thinking of Harbinger, through." Qrow answered.

"That sounds amazing!" Summer said, as they entered the ballroom.

Qrow's eyes soon found Raven, she was about to get into a fight with a blonde boy. "Come on, Summer, I want you to meet someone". He stopped at Raven and put his weapon in between the two. "Can you two stop?"

Raven smirked. "About time you arrived, Qrow."

"Hey, I wasn't done talking", said the blonde boy. "Heya Summer", he added as he spotted Summer.

"You trying to get this girl?" asked Summer, "Typical you, Tai".

"You know me too much, Summer" Tai added, turning to Qrow, "So, who are you?"

"I'm Qrow Branwen, I'm Raven's brother", he turned to Summer, "You two know each other?"

"Oh yeah, me and Tai go way back, we were friends at Signal, on Patch".

"Patch?" asked Qrow, unaware of the location.

"You don't know about Patch?" asked Tai, "It's an amazing island off the coast of Vale, where were you raised that you don't know about it?"

"Anima, outside of the kingdoms" he said, he smirked as he added, "Tai".

"My name is Taiyang Xiao Long." Taiyang muttered.

"So…" Raven said, changing the subject. "Who's this little shorty?", asked Raven, as she towered over Summer.

"Uh… my name.. is Summer Rose" Summer stammered quite shyly. 

"Raven's all bark, no bite, Summer" Qrow replied as he met with a glare from his sister's eyes.

"You really want to fight, Qrow?" asked Raven.

"Not now, it's almost time for bed"

As soon as he finished, Ms. Goodwitch, a new teacher's aide told everyone to get ready for bed.

"How did you know?" asked Summer, puzzled by how Qrow knew what was about to happen.

Qrow smirked and started to laugh, "Oh, just an unlucky guess."

Soon enough, the four had changed into their sleepwear or rather Tai and Summer had. Raven and Qrow just wore what seemed to Taiyang and Summer to be normal clothes.

"That's what you two sleep in?" asked Tai.

"Yeah... -" started Qrow before being cut off by Raven.

"You have a problem with our sleepwear?" asked Raven.

"Well, kinda. Those look like normal clothes."

"Well, where we lived we didn't have the luxury to sleep in your style of sleepwear" Raven snapped.

Qrow whispered to Summer, "That, and we don't have normal sleepwear." Summer only giggled in response.

Soon enough, the lights went out and they all got onto their sheets and went to sleep, wondering how everything will go down for their next four years at Beacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: From this point on, the story will switch back and forth from Ruby and Jaune's focused POV to a Qrow focused POV, through the next part will be another Qrow chapter. As I will post chapters with multiple parts together. Also, thanks to Morgan for helping me with edits this chapter.


	3. Beacon of Destiny Part 2

Qrow awoke early the next morning, and watched the sun rise.  Raven awoke as the sun rose. Raven spoke first. “You’re up early, Qrow.”  Qrow smiled at his sister in a very cheeky way. “Well, the early bird catches the worm.-” Qrow was hit in the head by a pillow. “Raven, you should get a grip, it’s just slang here.”

“Remember, even though it’s your semblance, no turning into your bird form.” Raven added as she walked up to Qrow, who had already gotten breakfast. “You already have breakfast?”  Qrow smirked back, “Of course, it’s unfair to others, my semblance, I mean.  No teleporting to me either, Raven.”  Raven just nodded.

Summer awoke next, yawning, she got up to see the two siblings looking out towards the sunrise. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” Qrow replied, not even turning to face Summer.  “So… you guys excited for the idea of being on teams?” Summer bubbly asked in responce.

Qrow and Raven looked at each other, as Qrow spoke. “Well, I just hope I’m on a team with Raven.”  Raven only sighed, and shook her head, it was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

“Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation, again all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.” Glynda said over the intercom late into the morning.  Qrow sulkily walked towards Beacon Cliff after the embarrassment that Taiyang had pulled earlier that morning; Taiyang had told Qrow that the girl’s skirt was a kilt; Qrow unaware that it was a skirt just accepted it as a kilt.  Sure, the women liked his legs; but he was so angry he almost started to fight with Taiyang until Peter Port, a Teacher’s aid got in between them and, while chuckling, told Qrow to change and take a stroll.

Qrow arrived at Beacon Cliff, where Ozpin was waiting, he stood next to Summer, seeing that Raven was already surrounded by other teenagers.  
  
“Hey.” he said to Summer, still embarrassed from the event earlier, as Summer had been there.

“Hi.” she said, turning to him, her face slightly blushing towards Qrow. “Sorry for leaving you behind, Qrow… I needed some air.” she finished, now a tad rosy around the cheeks.  
  
Ozpin ushered the group for silence.  “For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest.” Ozpin smiled at the teens as he spoke.  “Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams…  Well allow us to put an end to your confusion, each of you will be given teammates today.”  

Summer looked over to Qrow, she was a bit socially awkward, having really Taiyang and Qrow as friends here, so this scared her a bit.  “What?!” she shrieked.

“These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.  That being said the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.  After you've partnered up make your way to the northern end of the forest.  You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die.”

Qrow and Raven just smirked as they had encountered Grimm before, and knew how to fight, having grown in the tribe, they knew how to fight almost anything that would come their way.

“You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene.  You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff.  We will guard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately.  Are there any questions? No? Good now take your positions.” Ozpin finished.

Soon enough, the group of teenagers were catapulted into the air.  Qrow soon landed, he was trying to find Raven. ‘Where could she be?  We didn’t land that far from each other, did we?’ Qrow stopped thinking as he hit someone. “Oomph!” he shouted as he got up, he was standing on top of a girl he had met the day before.

“Summer, is that you?” he asked.

“Yep.” she said blushing, as she got back up, brushing off some of the grass and dirt that had gotten on her attire. “So I guess we’re partners now?”

“That’s what the headmaster said.” Qrow said, “Now, let’s go find those relics, or whatever they are.”

The two started to run, when Qrow stopped.  “Qrow?” said Summer when she had turned around to face him.

“We’re running south.” Qrow said, staring towards the sky. Summer was confused at Qrow and replied “What?”

“The Sun’s almost at ninety degrees, making it hard to tell, but the moss on the trees are telling me we’re heading south.”  Qrow answered, stopping to notice the moss.

“How do you know?” asked Summer, confused at what Qrow had said.

Qrow sighed. “We’re partners now, right?”

“Yeah...-” Summer said as Qrow cut her off.

“Summer, I grew up outside of the kingdoms, in a tribe” Qrow explained.  “We had to learn the cardinal directions to survive.”

Summer looked at the man in front of her. “Oh…-”

“So let’s go!” said Qrow, trying to focus on the mission.

The pair made it to the temple, Summer had just grabbed the white knight piece, and was about to head out, when Qrow stopped her. “Summer?”

“Yes Qrow?” asked Summer, who was hearing something in the distance.

“Do you hear that screaming?” answered Qrow, also aware of the sound.

“Yeah.” added Summer, no sooner did she finish, Tai and Raven came out of the treeline, being followed by a huge Death Stalker grimm.

“Oh shit, oh shit!” shouted Tai, as Raven grabbed a chess piece, as the grimm started to head towards Summer.

“Summer!” shouted Qrow, as his instincts kicked in and he transformed into his crow form and flew towards the Grimm, transforming back to give the Death Stalker a huge kick in the stomach, knocking the grimm into the temple, causing the Grimm to miss Summer completely.

“Qrow?!” shouted a very puzzled Summer; as Qrow dusted off his legs.

“What?” replied Qrow, realizing what he had done.

“You can turn into a bird?” Summer bubbly asked, grinning at her partner.

Qrow looked back at Raven, who was giving him a glare. “Uh.. yep, I didn’t mean to use it, but…-”

“That’s amazing!  That’s your semblance?!”

Qrow sighed.  “I guess you could say it’s a part of mine, yes.”

“Oh.” said Summer, smiling as she said it.

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“Mhmmm. Nope.” Summer said, smiling. “Mine is turning into white rose petals…. I should of been able to get out of that grimm’s way… but-.”

Qrow stopped her. “ Nevermind that Summer, what matters is you’re now safe.”

“But, we’re not!” said Taiyang, as the Death Stalker started to charge towards them.  Qrow and Raven looked at each other.

Summer spoke first.  “If we attack from above, we might be able to kill it!”

“Well Raven?” asked Qrow.

“We might as well.”  shouted Raven, as Qrow transformed into his crow form and flew up, while Raven opened a portal, and told Taiyang and Summer to jump in and shoot it from above,  Summer drove her sword into the Death Stalker, cutting it’s head clean off.

Summer just beamed as the four walked back and handed Ozpin their chess pieces.

Qrow and Summer walked back to the school together.

“So… you said you were raised in a tribe?”

“Yeah, being raised there meant we were taught how to survive on our own, both me and Rae decided to leave the tribe, as we were the strongest members of the tribe; so what about you?”

“Well… I was just raised in Patch.” 

Soon enough, they were called down to the auditorium with the other first-year students.

“As you all know, earlier today, we had you get a partner in the Emerald Forest.  Now… if you have seen hunters and huntresses before, you should know that, they are usually in teams of four, that is how we here at Beacon assign you.” said Ozpin. “Upon your success in the forest, I have assigned you all teams based on multiple factors.  Will-” 

Summer turned to Qrow. “So.. who do you think will be on our team?” 

“I honestly don’t know, Summer.”  Soon enough, Summer, and Qrow were called up, he looked back to see Tai following him. “Great...so you’re going to be on my team, Taiyang.” said Qrow in a sarcastic tone.

“Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen.” started Ozpin as the four arrived on the stage.  “The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces.  From this day forward, you will work together as Team STRQ” Ozpin said, looking at the team in front of him, most of the members smiled back to him. “Led by, Ms. Summer Rose… it seems like this year is shaping up to be an interesting year.” 

Qrow and Taiyang smiled at the now blushing Summer, while Raven looked onward, a bit displeased that either she nor Qrow was the team leader.  After dinner in the commons, the group walked to the dorms, and were assigned a room. The team then claimed their own beds, Summer’s was the closest to the desk, Qrow’s next to hers, Raven next to him, and Taiyang on the other side of the room.  Summer jumped onto her bed, as Qrow put his weapon by his bed.

“So…. Team STRQ… huh?” asked Raven, as she lay on her new bed, looking at the ceiling.

“Yep.” said Taiyang.  “Let’s be one of the best teams to come out of Beacon!”

Summer looked at Taiyang. “Nope.”  Popping the p as she said it.  
  
“Nope?” asked Raven.

“Let’s not just be one of the best teams to come out of Beacon.” she bubbly replied.  “Let’s be _the best_ team to come out of Beacon!”

“I’m in!” happily shouted Qrow, getting up. “Rae?” he asked to his sister.  “Sure.” said Raven. “I’m in.” added Taiyang, after Raven had finished talking.  
“To Team STRQ!” shouted Summer, as she rose her fist.  “To Team STRQ!!!” shouted the rest of the team in unison, their hands all in the air. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Hi, just wanted to say, thanks for all of the comments so far! Sorry if this took a long time, had some real life issues, and there was a scene in this that was giving me trouble.


	4. Wake the Reflections

* * *

 

Hours passed as the group walked, Qrow had been asleep for a good period when he started to mumble out some words.  “Summer?”  Qrow paused for a moment, as if waiting for a response. “Are you alright?” he then asked in Ruby’s direction.  Ruby looked at the others, now very puzzled at Qrow’s question.  Qrow continued to speak, “It’s alright, they make you special, I like them.”, coughing up a bit of blood and poison after finishing up talking.  The group continued to walk, slowly the terrain changed, with a mountain appearing in the backdrop. “Heya Summer, did you miss me?” Qrow started before he fell back asleep.

“Hey Ruby?” asked Jaune as he carried Qrow from the front.

“Hmm?” responded Ruby, now broken out of her thoughts. “What?”

“Why does he mainly mention your mother?” Jaune asked.  

Ruby paused. “I remember my dad saying they were partners while in Beacon, maybe that’s why he keeps mentioning her?”  She said as she heard a twig snap. “Guys.” she said, as they stopped.

“What Rub-” asked Nora as a small pack of beowolves walked out of the bushes.

Ruby and Jaune put Qrow down. “They’re after my Uncle!” shouted Ruby as she pulled out Crescent Rose.  “Just make sure they don’t get to him!” she shouted.

Jaune, Ren and Nora nodded and pulled out their weapons and then they all started to attack.  Ruby swung her scythe around, chopping a small section of them up while Jaune swung his sword at another group of them.  Ren and Nora tag teamed the rest of the beowolves until Ruby shot the last one from long range.  Ruby sat down,on a small tree that she had accidentally chopped down in the fight; and looked up into the sky.  “The sun’s setting.”  she said.  She looked over to see a small creek.  She smiled as she pointed to the small creek.  “Let’s set up over there.” she said, as the others nodded.  She and Jaune picked up Qrow as Ren started to cook up a dinner for the group.  

Ren soon made soup for everyone.  “It’s ready.” he said as he handed Nora her small bowl.

“We can wash them out in the river after we’re done.” said Jaune, as Ruby grabbed two bowls.  Thank goodness for Ren packing more than four, in case they broke some.  She walked over to Qrow.  “Uncle Qrow?” she asked, causing Qrow to awake and look at her.  
  
“Huh?  Oh hey Short-stack.” he said, as he looked towards her. “Where’s Tai and Rae?”

‘Short-stack?  A nickname for my mom, maybe?’ Ruby thought as she spoke.  “Qrow, you need to take this.”

“Oh, I see, they’re busy making out, aren’t they?” he said chuckling.  “So what is it?” he asked, not really noticing the soup that Ruby had.

“It’s soup, Qrow.  Cheese and Broccoli, through there’s not much broccoli.” Ruby answered.

“Did you make it?” he asked, now looking at her. “Sum, please tell me you did, you know that I can’t take Tai’s shit that he tries to call food.”  
  
Ruby looked over to Ren, then back to Qrow. “Yes Qrow, I did.”

“Thanks Sum.” said Qrow as he took the bowl and started to drink.  “Ouch!” he said as he moved, agitating the cut a bit.  He looked down at it.  “I guess I got hit really badly, how are Rae and Tai doing?”

“They’re fine Qrow, Taiyang’s recovering, and Raven’s-” said Ruby, lying to try to make Qrow feel better.  Qrow cut Ruby off.  “Raven’s being Raven I guess?” Qrow chuckled as he spoke.  “That’s normal for her, how are you holding up?” asked a now worried Qrow.

“I’m fine, Qrow, you took the worse beating through.”  Ruby smiled back at Qrow, through she noticed there was something different about how Qrow was acting compared to the Qrow she had known for her whole life.  ‘Did my mother’s death really affect Uncle Qrow this much?’ she thought to herself.  Soon enough, Qrow had finished his bowl.  “Thanks Summer!” he said, smiling.  “That was really good!”

“Yeah… Get some rest Qrow, you’re gonna need it.” said Ruby, now forcing a smile on her face, as she grabbed his bowl.

“Alright…. I’ll see you when I wake up.” he said as he closed his eyes.

Ruby walked over to the others, sitting down at the fire that was still going.  “How’s your uncle?” asked Jaune, a small frown was on his face as he looked at Ruby.

“He’s.. I honestly think he’s just needing some rest.” Ruby replied, trying to put on a smile, but failing.  Soon enough, the night fell upon them, and the team set up their sleeping bags.  “Well… we need to rest for the night…. Stay strong Uncle Qrow….” said Ruby, in the direction of a now deep in sleep Qrow.

“Well… should we take turns watching him?” asked Nora.  The others looked at each other,

“I’ll keep watch first.” said Ren, as the others nodded in agreement and got into their sleeping bags and fell asleep.  Ren watched over Qrow for over the night as Qrow slept quite peacefully.

“Hello Professor Ozpin-” said Qrow, as he muttered in his sleep.

Ren only sighed when he heard Qrow’s voice. ‘Do I really act like him?’ he thought to himself as the night rolled on.

* * *

A gun was heard firing, alerting Jaune.  He opened his eyes to find that he was in an building he had never seen before, but the rooms building style reminded him of Mistralian buildings they’ve seen on the way.  There next to him, laying, was Ruby, beaten to hell, with cuts all over her body.  “Ruby?!” he asked, no reply. He looked around him, to see his Ren and Nora resting against a wall with Ren bleeding and Nora giving him some medical help, with Qrow fighting off people at the door.

“She’s gonna be fine, Jaune.” said a voice that sounded a lot like Ruby’s.  Jaune curled into a ball and huddled for strength, when the voice’s figure touched his arm.  He turned around to see a woman, a wolf faunus in fact; with silver eyes.  Her ears and tail both were a now aging black with red highlights.  She wore a black combat skirt and a casual t-shirt, which was ripped where a cloak would of been pinned to it. The woman smiled as she spoke. “She’s gonna be fine.”  Jaune within seconds fell back into the darkness as he closed his eyes shut again.

* * *

Jaune awoke from his nightmare, “Just who was that?”  He asked to himself, unaware of his surroundings.

  
“Who are you talking about?” asked Ren, still up at the fire.  
  
Jaune was startled by Ren’s voice.  “Nothing, just a dream Ren,.” Jaune got up from his sleeping bag.  “I’m up now Ren, so I’ll watch over Qrow and the others, you can go get some sleep.”

“Thanks Jaune.” said Ren as he got up and went to his sleeping bag and soon fell asleep. Jaune soon walked away to a small patch of ground nearby that was bare, and turned on Pyrrha’s video.  He pulled out Crocea Mors and started to practice.

“Alright Jaune, just like we practiced...” started Pyrrha in the video.

* * *

 

“Ruby!” came a voice.  Ruby opened her eyes to see Yang running towards her.  
  
“Yang!” shouted Ruby, getting up and starting to run towards her sister, not noticing that Yang had both arms.

“How are ya?” Yang asked, as she pulled Ruby into a hug, her smile quite stunning.  
  
“Yang, you’re crushing me!” shouted Ruby as Yang loosened up.  “Thanks Sis,  I have so much to tell you, but… how are you?”  Ruby asked.  
  
No response came from Yang, but her smile slowly turned into a frown, tears started to flow from her eyes.  “Yang?” Ruby asked again, still no response came from Yang.  
  
Yang slowly stepped back, to reveal her arm now a bleeding stub, causing Ruby to gasp.  “To tell you the truth Ruby, I would love to tell you that I’m okay.”  she stopped to look into Ruby’s silver eyes. “But I’m not.  It’s all gone.  The school, Penny..” Yang turned away from Ruby, unable to say it to Ruby’s face. “Pyrrha…. They’re all gone.”

Ruby looked at Yang.  “What about-”  she started to speak as Yang’s eyes shifted to a bright red.  
  
“Weiss’s father came to take her to Atlas and Blake fucking ran on us!” Yang shouted.  “And you know what?!  I don’t care!”  Ruby gasped as Yang pushed her away.

“Yang?” asked Ruby, now very concerned.  “What should I do?”  
  
“I don’t care what you do Ruby, _I_ just want to stand here, you can go do whatever and get yourself killed like Pyrrha.” Yang turned to look straight into Ruby’s eyes. “Like your _own damn mother_ , Ruby!”

* * *

Ruby opened her eyes, her heart was beating quite fast as she got up and splashed some water onto her face.  “It’s okay Ruby, it was just a nightmare, Yang’s gonna be fine with Dad at home.  Dad’ll help her recover.” she said, as she took a breath, trying to calm herself down.  She turned to Qrow, and sighed, unsure what was happening to him.  
“Oz… you know I can’t bring Summer along after Raven left…. Yang needs a mother figure.” he said in his sleep.

“Poor Uncle Qrow…-” she started to say, before hearing something.

“I want you to know that I’m just happy to be apart of your life.  I’ll always be here for you, Jaune.” said a voice Ruby recognized, she followed to voice to see Jaune practicing still.

“Jaune?” Ruby asked, causing Jaune to turn towards her.  “You alright?  What are you doing up?”  
  
“I’m fine Ruby.  I just couldn’t sleep so I decided to train over here.” Jaune answered. “What are you doing up?”

“Uncle Qrow woke me up.” Ruby lied to Jaune, as she didn’t want him to worry about her own nightmares.

“Well…. How are you Ruby?” asked Jaune.

“Hmm?” asked Ruby.  “I’m fine.”

“You…-” Jaune paused, changing his mind before continuing. “Come on Ruby, practice against me.”

“What Jaune?” asked Ruby, now puzzled by Jaune’s comment.

“Practice against me, you seem on edge.” said Jaune, as he could hear the tension within Ruby’s voice.

“Just worried about him…-” said Ruby, looking back towards Qrow.

“I can’t really know how you feel right now Ruby, as I’ve never had to deal with a family member like this.”  Jaune paused to focus.   “But, you need to relax a bit:  it’s no use to go ahead if you’re not focused.”

“I guess.-” started Ruby before a voice caused her to stop.

“Summer….I...love...you.” muttered Qrow, as he turned over; Ruby jumped as she heard Qrow’s voice, “I guess I didn’t hear that.” she added in response.

“What, your Uncle confessing his memories to loving your mother?  They were on the same team right?  That’s likely how he mean it.” he said, trying to reassure Ruby.  Ruby picked up Crescent Rose and they soon began to fight.  Jaune was able to block most of Ruby’s swings, before swinging himself, this practice went on for what felt like an hour, before Ruby stopped.  Jaune turned to her.  “Ruby?” he asked, as he grabbed his scroll from the log he had put it on.

Ruby just smiled at him in the moonlight.  “Thank you Jaune.” she finally answered.

“For what Ruby?” inquired the now puzzled Jaune.

“For everything Jaune, for being here on this mission, for being able to watch over me and even my own uncle.” she said, a small tear started to form from her right eye.  “I have no idea where I would be without you and your team.”

Jaune sighed, as he put his hand on Ruby’s shoulder.  “Ruby…. You were my first friend at Beacon… I can’t thank you enough myself, I’ll be here for you, you know.”

“Thank you Jaune…you were my first friend at Beacon as well… speaking of, I’ll need to write to my friends that were at Signal… can’t believe it’s almost been what.. Over a year, almost two since I stopped Roman Torchwick from robbing a small dust store in Vale? I just was lucky to be there that night… otherwise, Beacon would of fallen with.-” Ruby paused to take a breath and to think about it.  “-With me sitting at home with my father crying for Yang’s safety-.”  started Ruby before Jaune cut her off.

“Don’t think of the past like that Ruby, you were in the right place, and at the right time.”  Jaune said, cutting Ruby off from starting to cry herself.  “And honestly, I don’t think I would of been a good leader without your help.”

“You think?” asked Ruby, staring at Jaune, now confused.

“Short-stack, you didn’t tell me about… our petal.” interrupted Qrow, coughing up more poison.

“Yeah… if you didn’t encourage me that I was gonna be a good leader… I think I might of been a different person in Beacon…. I might of even left Beacon if it wasn’t for you…-”

“Same here Jaune.” Ruby stopped and started to head back to the fire, “Come on ‘Vomit Boy’, we need to get some sleep if we’re gonna be able to get anywhere tomorrow, and we need to hurry too.”

“Vomit boy?  Are we bringing back old nicknames…huh ‘Crater Face’?” he added, laughing.  Ruby chuckled at it as well as the two got back to the fire.

Ruby stopped to look at Qrow.  “Goodnight Uncle Qrow.” she said as she walked towards her sleeping bag.

“Goodnight my sweet Petal.” muttered Qrow in his sleep.  

Jaune walked over to Nora’s bed. “Hey Nora?” he asked towards the strawberry haired teammate of his.

Nora woke up. “Yeah Jaune?  What’s up?”

“You think you can watch over the group for a bit?  Me and Ruby need some sleep.”

“Sure Jaune, go to bed, I’ll watch over Qrow.” she said, getting up.

“Thanks Nora.  Well goodnight Ruby.” said Jaune from across the fire to Ruby and got into his sleeping bag.  
“Goodnight Jaune.” said Ruby as she began to think over everything Qrow had said that day.  ‘Who’s Petal?  I guess I’ll have to ask Qrow when he recovers.’ Ruby thought to herself as she got into her sleeping bag and slowly fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: I’m so sorry for not posting this sooner, I just had a lot to deal with in December, with Christmas and College, and of course, RWBY Volume 5. The next chapter or chapters will be all about Qrow and the rest of team STRQ, up until around the time Ruby is born.


	5. Madblind Mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'm so sorry for this late release, I've been sitting on this chapter for a while, and I've been working on something on Tumblr with some friends, that I'll hopefully be able to mention in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, you'll see this is now a full blown AU.

 

* * *

It was just after the start of team STRQ’s third year, Qrow was sitting in the cafe with Summer, he was drinking out of his flask, something Summer had given him over their first winter break for something she and Taiyang had called Christmas, he had returned the favor with a dust clip holder, by their third year through, Qrow and Summer had gotten very close, to the point, almost everyone but them had thought they had been dating.  Through, in the two years at Beacon, Qrow had already given Summer a nickname, calling her Short-stack when he was being cocky. While they were just being partners, even they knew that Raven and Taiyang had already fallen in love and had been dating for over a year.  

Qrow turned away from Summer for a moment as he spotted Bartholomew, an upperclassman they had last year in some of their classes, no sooner as he could collect his thoughts, did he hear the sound of tape being ripped and then Summer screaming.  He turned back around to see two freshmen ripping something out of Summer’s hair.  “Summer!” he shouted as he turned around, already pulling out his fists.  He noticed they had pulled out some tape covering something.  “What did you _fucking_ do!?” he shouted towards the two young men now standing in front of him.

One of the two scoffed.  “Showing the girl, her place.  Faunus have no right trying to pretend to be humans like us.”

Qrow growled.  “I want you two out of my sights, now… you’ve not even had intiation yet, and I’m sure I can make sure you won’t.”  Qrow added as he pulled out his weapon.

The teens gulped and ran away.  Qrow turned back to notice Summer had disappeared.  He sighed as he walked to the library and found Summer curled up in a ball in a corner, two now quite visible additions adored her head.  

Qrow walked over and sat down, waiting a few moments before speaking.  “Summer?” he asked, towards his partner.

“Go away.” said Summer,  her voice muffled by her arms and knees.

Qrow only frowned at that reply.  “Summer, Are you alright?” Qrow asked, as he pulled her arms away, to get a look at Summer’s teary eyes.

“No… just look at me Qrow, I’m a faunus!” she said, as her ears wiggled a bit. “I’ve lied to you and the others for years about who I am, I’m not just a little girl from Patch.  I was born in Atlas, to a rich family, and then moved to Patch.  I’ve lied about being human as my parents wanted me to be a normal person, Qrow… I’m sorry!”

Qrow sighed, smiling at the woman he called his teammate and partner.  “It’s alright, they make you special, I like them.” Qrow replied, smiling at his partner.  “So what?  You’re a faunus, that won’t change my view of you.”

“Really?” asked Summer, blushing quite a little at Qrow’s remark.

“Yep.” Added Qrow, then for a few minutes, there was a long pause as Qrow helped Summer clean up.  “Hey, we should-” Qrow was stopped by the whole library starting to shake around him and Summer.  Summer ducked under a table and signalled Qrow to join her.  He got under the the table with Summer, as books started to fall down from their shelves.  

Qrow turned to his partner, who just smiled at him, the girl still blushing as she spoke.  “It’s just an earthquake, it’ll past, and we’ll be safe here.”  Summer then grabbed his arm for assurance.

Soon enough, the shaking stopped, and Qrow just looked out of one of the huge windows of the library, to see a huge cloud of smoke rising from the mountains.  He then tugged on Summer’s hood as she climbed out from under the table, and then pointed towards the smoke.  “What’s over there?” Qrow asked.  Summer’s already flustered red face just became a pale white.   Summer started to tear up again.  “No…  That’s near the location of Mountain Glenn, a huge suburb of our capitol.  My uncle lives in that city.”  a tear started to fall from Summer’s eye, as Qrow put his hand up to it.  
  
“He’ll be fine, Summer.”  Qrow said.  “He was a huntsman, wasn’t he?”

Summer nodded.  “He’s one of the people that inspired me to become a huntress.  I lived with him for a few years during my summers off of school in Atlas, it was him who inspired my parents to move to Patch.”

Qrow smirked as he then spoke.  “Then he’ll be able to protect himself, right?  Tell me about-.”  
  
Qrow was cut off by Ozpin’s voice coming on over the PA system.  “The report is that earthquake was caused by an explosion within Mountain Glenn.  With reports coming in that parts of the city are in turmoil with buildings collapsing.  In wake of what’s happening in Mountain Glenn, the council of Vale has requested any available Huntsmen to offer their assistance in excavating the city.  If any of you would like to offer you and your team’s assistance, please come up to my office immedientary.”  
  
As soon as Ozpin turned off the PA, Summer rushed out of the library.  Qrow only smirked as he walked towards the dooms.  He arrived in their dorm to see Summer already in her hunting gear, with Taiyang and Raven both arriving after him. “Summer?” asked Qrow.

“I’m going,  my uncle lives in Mountain Glenn.  And I’m going to find him.  You all heard our professor, parts of the city are now rubble, I need to make sure he’s ok, and-.” Summer paused, clearing her throat in the moment.  “And none of you can stop me.”

Qrow smirked, as Raven and Taiyang grabbed their hunting clothes.  “We can’t leave you, you should know that Summer.  We’re gonna go with you.”

Summer smiled as she pulled out her sharpening kit and her bullets.  The group soon was ready and walked up to Ozpin’s office, there they saw Ozpin waiting with another team, Team BRNT  (Burnett), Bartholomew’s team already there along with Peter Port, a teacher’s aid.

Bart just turned to them, his normal hyper matter slowed down to a slow pace as he spoke. “Ah, team STRQ, you joining us in our mission to Mountain Glenn?”

Qrow and Summer nodded.  “How did you guys get here so quickly?” asked Qrow.

“We were in our dorm when the quake happened.  We all agreed to go out to help.”  said one of Bart’s teammates, he wearing a black hat with a red and white scarf around his neck.

Ozpin finally spoke up as he noticed some of the last teams coming in.  “Alright… you all should realize, this is a very serious situation.  The chances you’ll see blood and dead bodies are very high.  You may be scarred by what you see there as well.  I need you all to agree now, this is important that you believe that you’re really ready.”

Summer nodded.  “I’m ready, Professor.”  
  
Qrow added on, as Taiyang and Raven nodded in agreement.  “There’s lives to save Professor, and we need to help if we can.”

Ozpin smiled.  “Alright.” He handed them passes.  “These are Passes for the trains heading to and from Mountain Glenn, they’ll get you into the city… good luck team STRQ.”

Team STRQ was accompanied by team BRNT and the Teacher’s aid Peter Port, as they made their way down to the train station, the nine of them got on board the next train towards Mountain Glenn.

* * *

 

Qrow looked out into the station as they got out; as injured people were pulled into the train.  He could see all the way down the street, almost every building had collapsed, the dead and the alive both just laying out in the middle of the streets as other huntsmen and huntresses fought off Grimm or were digging in the rubble.  Summer checked with one of the majors to see if anyone had found her uncle.  She returned in tears, to be only grabbed by Qrow and pulled into a hug.  “It’s alright Summer, we’ll find your uncle.” Qrow started, staring in his partner’s silver eyes, calming down Summer a little.

Summer nodded. “Right.” she answered as Peter walked up and told them they best go quick.  It took a while as the group made check of every building, even splitting up towards the end, with Qrow and Summer being able to head to the area where Summer’s uncle lived in.

Summer walked into a building she recognized, as Qrow following,  as Qrow creaked over a floor board, he stopped as he heard something.  “Hey, Summer, stop, do you hear that?” he asked in Summer’s direction.

Summer turned around.  “Do I hear what?” asked Summer as she looked at him, her eyes, showing signs of hope.

“Is someone there?!  I can’t move my leg, it’s trapped under some rubble!”  A voice came, causing Summer to perk up, and smile at Qrow.

“Uncle?!” shouted Summer, running into the room where the voice came from.

“Summer?!” shouted the voice.  “I’m in the basement, one of my cabinets fell on me, come quickly!”

Qrow got to the room to find Summer already trying to move the cabinet. “Hey, move Summer.” Qrow started, as he pulled out his scythe.  “Depending on how your leg is placed, this may hurt.”  Qrow added, as he put the blade under a section of the now rubble.  With a great heave, Qrow lifted the big slab of rubble that was on the uncle’s leg, Summer was able to pull her uncle free.

As they got up, Summer’s Uncle screamed in pain.  “Ouch, looks like I’m not able to walk right now.” he said as he fell on to Summer’s shoulder.  “Think you can get me outside?” he asked to Qrow, who just nodded.  “Come on.” Qrow said as he put his scythe back on his back.  With Summer’s Uncle now also on his back, they soon started to climb the stairs to head out of the house.  
  
As soon as they got out, Qrow stopped to take a breath, and looked around at the burning city, when someone caught his attention.  “Qrow!” shouted Summer, causing Qrow to turn around, as he saw the building collapse right in front of him, without hesitation, Qrow grabbed Summer’s Uncle and shoved him off, towards Summer, as he decided to take the brunt of the falling bricks, blacking out in the process.

* * *

“Qrow!” came a voice, waking up the Branwen twin.  Qrow opened his eyes to see himself in the underground train station he and the others had gone out into Mountain Glenn mere hours ago. He looked over to see Bart sitting with his team over at a fire, with Summer standing right in front of him, holding something.

“Huh?  Oh hey Short-stack.” he said, as he looked towards her. “Where’s Tai and Rae?”

Summer spoke up, staring right at him.  “Qrow.”  she paused, her face full of worry from what Qrow could tell.  “You need to take this.”

“Oh, I see, they’re busy making out, aren’t they?” he said chuckling, while having thoughts of his own. ‘This seems off, I guess Sum’s just a bit tired.’  “So what is it?” he asked, as he tried to get up to look at what Summer was gonna try to give him.

“It’s soup, Qrow.  Cheese and Broccoli, through there’s not much broccoli.” Summer answered.

“Did you make it?” he asked, now looking at her, he noticed how she didn’t have her sword on her. ‘Summer normally always has her sword through.’ he thought as he spoke up.  “Sum, please tell me you did, you know that I can’t take Tai’s shit that he tries to call food.”  
  
Summer looked over to Bart and his team, then back to Qrow. “Yes Qrow, I did.”

“Thanks Sum.” said Qrow as he took the bowl and started to drink.  “Ouch!” he said as he moved, agitating the cut a bit.  He looked down at it.  “I guess I got hit really badly, how are Rae and Tai doing?”

“They’re fine Qrow, Taiyang’s recovering, and Raven’s-” started Summer as Qrow cut her off.  

“Raven’s being Raven I guess?” Qrow chuckled as he spoke.  “That’s normal for her, how are you holding up?” he now asked, looking at Summer, his eyes full of worry for his partner’s safety, more so than for his own.

“I’m fine, Qrow, you took the worst beating through.”  Summer said as she smiled back at Qrow, Qrow just nodded as he started to drink his soup.

Soon enough, Qrow had finished his bowl.  “Thanks Summer!” he said, smiling.  “That was really good!”

“Yeah… Get some rest Qrow, you’re gonna need it.” said Summer, now forcing a smile on her face, as she grabbed his bowl.

“Alright…. I’ll see you when I wake up.” he said as he closed his eyes.  Returning to the blackness of his dreams.


	6. Midnight Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Look, I know it’s been literal months since Chapter 5. There were some issues that I could not avoid, like for example, I was stressing over College that semester and then some family issues happened over the summer, along with a slight lack of willpower. But I want to continue this lovely story as there is so much I want to add, and after that cliffhanger, it’s good to be trying to come back to writing. It’s been on the back burner since July, so three months late is horrible, but I’ve got something in the works for when I get this story done so expect more updates soon.
> 
> I also promise that I’ll try to get the next chapter out by the end of the month.

* * *

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Summer was sitting down in a hospital chair, as a machine beeped, staring at her very injured partner calmly resting in the bed, as she had done for almost a whole month since the Fall of Mountain Glenn. The doctors told her Qrow was lucky to live, with a bit of internal bleeding, and a few bones cracked, and that his body needed a long sleep to try to recover. The doctors were told though, not to bother Summer, due to her being with Qrow when it happened and that without Qrow slashing the rubble, the building would of collapsed onto her and her uncle too. Qrow had not woken up since saving her, which, after a few days caused her to decide to just skip out on classes while Qrow rested.

“How’s he doing?” came a voice into the room, breaking Summer’s line of thought. Summer turned to see Raven and Taiyang standing in the doorway.

Summer smiled at the two. “Hey guys.” She almost whispered, her voice being very quiet from not being used.

Taiyang looked at Summer, noticing her ears. “Summer?” he asked as he pointed to her wolf ears. “You never told us you were a faunus.”

Summer started to burn up, being now very embarrassed; this was the first time she had not worn her hood in Taiyang and Raven’s presence since the day of the Fall of Mountain Glenn. “Yeah…. I just… never told you as I was told by my parents to not reveal it to anyone, but somebody bullied me at Beacon by revealing it, and with Qrow already knowing…. I really hope you two aren’t mad at me for keeping it a secret for almost three years.”

Taiyang and Raven just started to laugh, confusing Summer. Taiyang paused to speak. “You have no idea how rough being on campus has been without you two. It feels like hell has opened up with all the gossip going around, learning you’re a faunus is honestly a piece of good welcoming news, and I’m happy that you’ve told us.” he finished as Raven just nodded in agreement.

Summer looked over puzzled. “What sort of gossip?”

“Oh, Raven’s gotten quite irritable these past few days, so, a lot of the school’s thinking something’s up between us.” answered Taiyang, his smile being forced, as Raven only nodded. “We were lucky Ozpin let us leave campus early today to visit you two.”

Raven only scoffed at Summer. “And remind me, why are you the one skipping classes to watch my brother, shouldn’t it be my job?”

Summer blushed. “I want to be the first one to thank him for saving me, plus he’s my partner, I need to be there for him, as you two can still do your partner training stuff at Beacon.” She quickly answered.

Raven looked down towards the now bright red Summer, her crimson red eyes burned into Summer’s silver ones. “Summer, you like him, don’t you?”

Summer smiled. “Of course I like him.”

“Not like that, like… do you want to date him?” replied back Raven, her tone quite calm, for the normally very fiery woman. Summer just slightly smiled as she could barely blush any brighter. “Well then, why haven’t you asked him? Literally, if it’s not gossip about me and Taiyang going around the campus, it’s about you two, and how you two are together.”

Summer looked puzzled. “We’re not together Raven… what are you talking about?”

“Exactly!” Raven shouted causing Summer to scoot backwards. “Almost everyone believes you’re together, so ask him Summer.” Raven continued, “I’m sure he’ll say yes, Summer. He’s my twin, and if anybody knows him best, it’s me.” Raven paused, as Summer just hugged her and Taiyang.

“You two are some of the best team mates a girl could have.” Summer said, as tears fell down.

Taiyang smiled before starting to talk. “Look, me and Rae have to return to campus now due to how the bus schedules are, please Summer, call us when Qrow wakes up.”

Summer nodded. “I will.” Summer waived to Taiyang and Raven as they left.

* * *

 

Qrow slowly opened his eyes, he was staring up at a ceiling. He slowly turned over to see Summer asleep at his bedside. ‘Why’s Summer here? Hold on…’ Qrow paused thinking to look around the room, realizing he was he was in a medical bed in one of those gowns; and that Harbinger and Silver Rose both had been placed at the door. He smiled as he moved to look over at Summer, the bed moaning as he did so, effectively causing Summer to open her eyes.

Summer stared into the pale red eyes in front of her, and just started to grin excitedly. “Qrow!! You're awake!” Summer yelled, almost startling Qrow, causing him to flinch back and start screaming in pain. “Oh Qrow, I’m so sorry!”

Qrow smiled weakly as he got into a comfortable position. “Heya Summer, did you miss me or something? What am I doing in this gown?”

Summer just looked at him, her eyes just full with tears. “Qrow…. You’ve been basically asleep for almost a whole month…” Summer paused as she just smiled as she wiped her tears away. “You took a very nasty blow for me and my uncle, why wouldn’t I be worried?!”

Qrow listened to Summer, ‘I’ve been asleep for over a week, let alone almost a month?’ he asked himself, until he looked down to see Summer had a bandaged leg, with another bandage around one of her ears. “You look like you’ve had a bad month yourself, you alright, Summer?”

“No! I’ve been worried sick for you, Qrow… there’s something, I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now, and right now, it’s better late, while we’re talking.”

Qrow tensed up, and sat up, looking at Summer. “This sounds serious, is it about your faunus traits? I promise I won’t tell the others.”

Summer shook her head ‘no’. “No, Tai and Raven already know, they found out a few hours ago…” Summer took a long breath. “Qrow?” she finally asked.

“Hmm?” replied Qrow, now completely puzzled by Summer’s actions.

“Would you…. Would you…” Summer stopped mumbling and took another breath, her face flustered a bright red. “Would you go out with me after you’ve recovered?”

Qrow looked at her, with interest. “Did you just ask me out?” he finally asked., and immediately, Summer nodded. Qrow just grinned. “I believe you’ve got yourself a date.”

“Really?!” she perked up, she was slightly caught off guard by this, even though Raven had told her that he would say yes.

Qrow just looked at the red and black haired woman in front of him, smiling, he slowly nodded as Summer hugged him in a calm manner.

* * *

A few more weeks in the hospital came and went, until Qrow was cleared, and allowed to leave. Summer guided him out, holding his hand the whole way while Taiyang and Raven just followed behind, carrying Qrow’s stuff. The group soon arrived at the local shooting range that they normally go to, having not that long until the next Vytal Festival to practice as a team, through it wasn’t long until one of them got a bit too cocky with their chances.

Raven smirked as she tapped on Summer’s shoulder. “Hey Taiyang, think you could make that shot?” Raven pointed to a wooden cut out of a beowulf with a target on its head.

Taiyang laughed. “That one is easy. Sure.” Taiyang paused and turned to Summer. “Hey Summer, can I borrow your sniper rifle?!” he yelled.

Summer handed Taiyang the rifle, as Qrow looked over from shooting three beowolves in a row. “Tai’s shooting?” he asked, knowing that Tai had not any really training with a gun.

“I’m trying my luck…” Taiyang started to say. “Now..where’s the zoom?”

Summer silently giggled as she whispered in Qrow’s ear. “Shall we take a bet?” asked Summer innocently.

Qrow chuckled. “What? Uh… maybe 10 lien if he can make it?”

“25 lien he doesn’t.” smirked Summer as a long bang echoed around them as Taiyang pulled the trigger.

“Oh my god! How did I miss?!?!” shouted Tai, having missed the whole grimm, causing Qrow, Summer and Raven just to explode with laughter.

“Fine Short-stack, you won. Looks like I’m buying us dinner on our date.” Qrow muttered as Summer just clung to his arm as Raven just laughed at Taiyang’s expense.

The group didn’t last that much longer at the range, as they had to catch the bus back to Beacon. However, on the bus ride; Qrow looked out of the window for most of the trip to Beacon, watching the now gold and red trees move in the wind as the bus entered the tunnel to the campus, never being able to let go of Summer’s hand.

The bus arrived at the campus, there waiting was a large crowd. It seemed that a few students had spotted the group and the news spread like wildfire. As the bus driver opened the door, Summer said thank you, as Taiyang got off first to clear a path for Summer and Qrow following suit, with Raven on the rear carrying all of Summer’s and Qrow’s items.

As they walked back to the main building, they were stopped by an figure they were not expecting. There waiting for them at the bottom of the CCT tower, was Headmaster Ozpin. “Good afternoon, Team STRQ, and welcome back Mr. Branwen.” he said in a calm tone.

“Hello Professor Ozpin.” said Qrow muttering. “Thank you.”

“Ms. Rose, and Mr. Branwen, how are you recovering?” Ozpin asked.

Summer smiled under her hood. “You want us to be in the festival, don’t you?” she asked excitedly.

The headmaster nodded before speaking. “It would a big shame if last festival’s champions didn’t return for their encore.”

Qrow opened his mouth before Summer could. “Don’t worry Headmaster, the doctor’s said I should be fine for the tournament, I just need to train a lot.”

“Then I would advise you pack up your bags, the tournament’s in Atlas this year, and you all need to get up so I can reserve your hotel rooms.”

The team nodded in agreement, as they headed for their dorm. As soon as they were in the room, Summer pulled out her scroll, and dialed a number. Within seconds the other side picked up.

“How’s my little Summer doing?” asked the voice on the other end.

Summer smiled. “Hey Dad, you know how to contact Uncle Terence?”

“I’m with him in Atlas right now, what do you need from him?”

Summer smiled. “Our Headmaster, asked my team if we want to go to the Vytal Festival, and I was wondering if we could bunk at the mansion while we’re there.”

Uncle Terence picked up the phone. “Well, Summer, we’ve got the room, so… when are you coming?”

“My team’s planning to make it up within the week or so.”

“Want a jet ride then tomorrow?” Terrence asked over the scroll.

“Really?!” shouted Summer, causing the others in the room to just look more confused.

“Yeah, I need to get some data from the Vale Branch of the business, so I’ll be in tonight and tomorrow… meet me at the Vale Branch at around 5 o’clock?”

“I’ll tell the others and the headmaster.”

“Sounds like a plan… you need to talk to your father again?”

“No thanks, tell him I’ll be there tomorrow. Thank you ever so much.”

“I do need to give you and your partner an reward, so it’s not a problem.” said Summer’s uncle as he ended the call.

“Summer?” asked Qrow, “What was that all about?”

Summer smiled. “We leave tomorrow."

The others were stunned, when Raven spoke. "Who did you call to get set up already?"

"Well, I asked my uncle, for assistance, and he's coming to Vale tomorrow to pick us up... now I need to go tell Professor Ozpin." Summer said, as she bolted out of the dorm room. It wasn’t long until she had returned, beaming from enjoyment. “Ozpin’s allowing us to do it!”

The others looked at Summer before all just smiling at her. “Let’s do this!” shouted Taiyang as he punched his fists together.

* * *

The next morning Qrow got up to see Summer was already packing up, with Taiyang and Raven already gone. “Where’s Tai and Rae?”

“They’ve already gone down for Breakfast, and I’ve made sure our professors know about us leaving so you don’t have to leave just yet.”

Qrow nodded. “Alright.”

At ten minutes to five, the team walked into one of the biggest buildings in the commercial zone of Vale, Everyone was amazed just how big the showfloor was.

"Wow, look at all this." said Qrow, as a lady came up.

"Hello! Welcome to the Rose Gold Company, how can I help you?" the woman asked the team.

"We're just looking." replied Qrow sharply, slightly annoyed by the greeter.

"Well, we have a lot of stuff on hand, for huntsmen and huntresses like yourselves, from parts to dust, to some of the newest advancements out of Atlas." the sales clerk said, noting that Qrow was looking at some fresh sharp blades along the outer wall.

The four were soon looking at almost everything, spending almost an half hour until Summer spotted her uncle, and stirred the others to him.

"Ah, Summer, we meet again." he said, laughing. He turned to an manager. “Let me be.” he said as the manager nodded and left. “How are you doing today?” he asked to Summer

“Heya Uncle!” said Summer, she almost screamed as she beamed with excitement. “I'm doing great so far!”

“Excellent!” he said, as the notioned for them to follow him. “Now come along, the plane is being already fired up at the airport.”

Summer nodded as the group followed him into a small limo waiting outside for them. As soon as Raven crawled in, the limo took off towards the airport. Qrow and Raven just stared out the window for a good part of the trip, even as third years, they hadn’t really seen much of Vale itself, other than Patch, where Taiyang lived, and places too and from Patch via the bus lines. It had been a while since they arrived by ship, and even then, they arrived during the night.

At last the limo stopped on the taxiway, and there in front of them was a midsized white jet. After getting off the taxiway in takeoff, Summer could not stop laughing as she just saw her teammates all get very airsick, as none of them were used for flying in such a smaller plane.

Summer pulled out some trading cards as the evening grew on, Raven scoffed at the idea. “In all of our time together, now you bring out some silly card game? Whatever is next?”

Summer chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a game that’s owned by a Rose Gold subsidiary. I just built this deck not to long ago, I like looking at the art and designs while being bored.”

Taiyang just looked shocked. “How much does Rose Gold own?!”

Terence looked over. “A lot. We have our hand in quite a few industries, but most are all in one long supply train.” The faces of everyone else being confused made him go on. “If our machine factory needs something, we likely have an hand in making the supplies. The card game was made out of an idea for something the workers could play on break other than poker.”

“Ah.” said Taiyang as the other two mumbled.

That night Qrow didn’t get much sleep, and Summer noticed when she awoke mid flight. “You alright Qrow?” she asked, getting up out of the recliner she had been asleep in, noticing him staring out at the ocean.

Qrow turned around to see Summer, as her ears popped up as their eyes met. “I’m fine, just… worried a little about being ready, ya know?”

Summer smiled as she looked over to see Taiyang and Raven were both in states of sleeping that looked troublesome. “Yeah, we still to practice, and Ozpin’s already got us enrolled, our classes are on our scrolls already.”

“Really?” Qrow’s sleepy eyes relaxed a little bit from that news.

“Yeah. but he did say to relax a bit and get used to living up in Atlas before going...you’ll do fine Qrow.” Summer said as she grabbed his hand. “You need some sleep, from that look in your eyes… have you even slept tonight?”

Qrow just shook his head. “Not really… been basically staring up at the ceiling all night.”

Summer just shook her head, sighing. “Qrow…” she said softly.

Qrow just sat back in his recliner. “Yeah…-”

Summer cut him off. “Try to sleep, once we’re at my uncle’s place, you can sleep all you want.”

Qrow nodded. “Night.”

“Night Qrow.” said Summer as she fell back into her chair and fell asleep.

* * *

 

At last the plane landed at Atlas’ airport, and as they got out, they all felt the cold wind grab them.

“This is Atlas?” asked Raven. “It’s.. cold as hell.”

Summer just giggled. “You’ll all get used to it. I promise.”

“You kids ready?” asked Terence, turning to them.

The teens nodded as they headed towards the parking garage. They stopped on the way to the mansion for breakfast, but they soon arrived at a huge white mansion with at least two floors from the outside, and a huge courtyard out at the front with a fountain. Qrow and Raven were just astonished. “You all will have plenty of time to look around the mansion.” Terence said, smiling.

Soon enough they all found the rooms and started to unpack their bags. Summer walked into Qrow’s room as he fell onto his bed. “You going to sleep now?”

Qrow turned to face her. “Yeah, you needing me to spar or something?” he asked, curious.

“No no I’m just checking up on you… if you need anything, my uncle’s got a lot of things available, even spare dust.”

Qrow nodded. “Thanks.”

“I’ll get out of your hair Qrow.” said Summer, noticing him fall asleep. “Night Qrow.”

Qrow just yawned in agreement. “Night.” he said as he fell asleep.

Summer closed his door to see Raven staring at her. “What’s up?”

Raven just frowned. “You’re letting him be lazy?”

“Lighten up, he didn’t get much sleep and nor did any of us really. You should relax too, we’ve got a few weeks until the tournament, and we need to make them last.” Summer said as she turned down the hall; leaving Raven to her own devices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note at the end: Trying things a bit differently now with this chapter, more fluff then action due to just how long it got when I noticed. Also, I do have a tumblr that is Mdk20 on tumblr if you want to message me. ~Mdk103


End file.
